N 



ovemDer, 



1918] 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



81 



snakes were found dead en the prairies; all, ap- 

 parently, headed for Stony Mountain. In spite of 

 this destruction, thousands of Gartersnakes were yet 

 to be seen at Stony Mountain and Balmoral, till 

 they were destroyed for nuisances, although all were 

 of the same harmless, even beneficent, species. 



In June, 1902, at Shoal Lake, I got a female 

 Gartersnake with 26 eggs ready for hatching; they 

 were m one column of 21 and a short parallel 

 column of 5. The stomach of this snake was e.\- 

 amined by Dr. S. D. Judd, of the Biological Sur- 

 vey, Washington, D.C. He reported its contents as 

 follows: "Hind legs and pieces of stomach of 

 Rana pipiens, one Agonoderus pallipes and another 

 small carabid beetle, one tenebrionid beetle, one cat- 

 erpillar ( Agrotis ), two flies, one ichneumon fly 

 (Hymenoptera), one aculeate hymenopter {Pom- 

 pilus), eight spiders, one ragweed (Ambrosia), 

 two seeds of Polygonum. The insects were in a 

 finely comminuted state." Whether they were orig- 

 inally swallowed by the frog or the snake is not 

 clear. A case in which the tables were turned, so 

 that a small Gartersnake was even devoured by 

 a Wood-frog is recorded by John J. Schoonhoven, 

 in Cuide lo Nature, April, 1910, p. 400. 



In late summer, as with all Gartersnakes, the young 

 of the species are born alive. According to H. A. 

 Surface (Serpents of Penna. 1906, p. 145), the 

 young in Pennsylvania are born between July 25th 

 and August 25th. The mother "lives near the young 

 and guards them during the fall. They pass the 

 winter in rubbish, in the earth, beneath stones, or in 



hollow logs; and in spring the young shift for them- 



1 " 

 selves. 



THE PLAINS GARTERSNAKE, 

 Thamnophis radix (Baird and Gerard). 



This species is much like sirlalis; but it has the 

 light side-stripes on the third and fourth row of 

 scales; whereas, sirtalis has them on the second and 

 third. 



A specimen that I took at Carberry, in 1883, was 

 identified by Dr. J. H. Gamier as radix. Donald 

 Gunn took another at Lake Winnipeg. 



Dr. Stejneger gave this name to one I sent him 

 from Winnipeg; and Dr. E. Coues reported it along 

 the boundary at Pembina, Turtle Mountain and 

 Souris River; so that it is probably of general dis- 

 tribution in southwestern or prairie Manitoba. 



THE GREEN-SNAKE OR GRASS-SNAKE, 

 Liopeltis vernalis (Harlan). 



This brilliant little creature is abundant along the 

 Assiniboine river, south of Carberry. During 

 August, Green-snakes can be seen in numbers where 

 the hot, sunny banks of the river valley rise near any 



grassy thickets, affording basking-places near coverts 

 of safety. It is also reported from Winnipeg and 

 Shoal Lake and Boissevain. Unfortunately, its ex- 

 quisite green is lost in alcohol, being replaced very 

 soon by a pale-blue. The species is perfectly 

 harmless. 



An individual that I caught on the banks of the 

 Assiniboine, July 14, 1884, and kept captive at 

 Carberry, produced si.x eggs on July 27th ; it re- 

 fused all food and died July 31st. 



RED-BELLIED SNAKE OR COPPER SNAKE, 

 Storeria occipto-maculata (Storer). 



This species is rare, compared with the foregoing. 

 I had heard of it several times before seeing it or 

 securing a specimen. The one in my collection 

 was captured at Carberry by Frank Dickie, in 1904; 

 and it has been observed occasionally as far north 

 as Shoal Lake. A. S. Barton reports it rare at 

 Boissevain ; but John S. Charleson says it is common 

 at Blythe, near Little Souris river. Like the other 

 snakes found in Manitoba, this species is perfectly 

 harmless. Its food is chiefly insects, and its range 

 seems to be the south-western part of the province. 



MUD-PUPPY OR SPOTTED SALAMANDER, 

 Necturus maculosus (Rafinesque). 



The two specimens in my collection were taken 

 by E. W. Darbey at Winnipeg. 



WATER-LIZARD OR PRAIRIE SALAMANDER, 

 Ambystoma ligrinum (Green). 



This species is generally distributed in south- 

 western Manitoba, that is, all the prairie region. It 

 is not a lizard at all, but a cousin to the frogs. It is 

 well-known in two different stages; first, as a big, 

 soft water-creature in the ponds and in the ditches 

 along the railways; second, as a yellow-and-black 

 spotted land-animal like a lizard; but it is not gen- 

 erally known that these are one and the same animal ; 

 the Water-lizard being the tadpole stage, the land- 

 animal is the stage corresponding with the frog. 



It is a remarkable fact that the species occasion- 

 ally breeds in the tadpole as well as the adult stage. 



In the autumn, when they are seeking a winter 

 den, the crawlers are found in cellars and post-holes 

 in numbers. I found them exceedingly numerous at 

 Boissevain in September, 1904. I have several times 

 found them in gopher holes where they had denned 

 up for the winter. Notwithstanding their appear- 

 ance, they are perfectly harmles; 



WOODLAND SALAMANDER, 

 Ambystoma jeffersonianum (Green). 



Among some alcoholic specimens sent me from 

 Beausejour, Whitemouth river, eastern Manitoba, 



